Sega Game Gear Repair-a-thon - Round 1, Fight!
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Published 2022-01-29
To establish a baseline with a faulty Game Gear, it is common practice to recap the system first, prior to diagnosing any additional faults that may exist. Given the system's age, this isn't a surprise. However the Game Gear apparently had low quality capacitors to begin with, so that doesn't help the longevity of an original system so even if it is still working, a recap will be in it's near future. This is the approach I will be taking to repair all three Game Gears in this lot.
I plan to give away one of these Game Gears when I am done working on them to a lucky subscriber, so stay tuned for your chance to participate in one of my upcoming giveaways.
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All Comments (21)
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Your meticulous workstation and procedures are impressive. The channel name is perfect. Love the videos.
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You did a masterful job of that, well done you. Can't wait to see the follow up.
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Great job! An aftermarket screen for the GG is a good idea anyways, the original screen has ghosting like there’s no tomorrow and with an IPS screen you can remove the tube light. Without that tube the battery life increases a lot :-) Can’t wait for part two!
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This console was my childhood. It was the only console I owned. I did have an amazing Amiga computer, but this was my window into Sega and stuff. They broke my heart too many times as an adult though. If you love repairing stuff, its a great thing to get into.
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There's a reasonable chance you can get the LCD working again by heating the contact points where the ribbon cables attach to the screen. If you remove the dust guard (visible @3:02) there should be 3 points at the bottom and one at the side. if you run the soldering iron over the one at the side (as they are horizontal lines missing), you may be able to restore the connections and get the screen working again. I've successfully managed to do this with a couple of Game Gears and there are a few videos about how to do this on Youtube, but its still worth going with one of the LCD mods if you want to use the console as they're a big improvement over the factory screen anyway.
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Great work in filing in all those caps!
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I had to replace them in my personal system too. I ended up breaking the glue connection like you, then I just cut the legs of the old caps. Then cleaned up the pads and removed the rest of the legs from the solder pads. Did one cap at a time and it fixed the issue.
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watching you recap every single cap was so satisfying, i love fixing old tech especially recapping, its fun, fairly easy and has great results sometimes!
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Another great repair, as you mentioned the screen not working was an expected outcome. Looking forward to the screen upgrade!
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I have to be honest here and say that I am genuinely excited to see your content. Keep up the excellent work!
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Nicely done. Looking forward to the next video. A Game Gear was my first recap project and I was so happy when it all worked out. It gave me a lot more confidence for other soldering projects.
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Game Gears are such a gamble whether or not they'll even work properly after you recap them. Buying a few like you did is the only way to guarantee you'll end up with at least one working system.
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Great video! It’s so therapeutic watching your videos.
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It’s a joy to watch you repair stuff. Your thoroughness is really appreciated!
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Just bought a Game Gear from from eBay that was listed as broken, has corrosion on the battery terminals and hopefully that turns on after a clean up. I will definitely order a capacitor kit for the Game Gear for sure as well.
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A perfect candidate for a backlight screen mod!
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I've said this before, but I'll say it again. You have come so far with your soldering technique from your early videos. I can see the improved muscle memory, the dexterity, and the overall confidence you have when you solder now. Awesome video. Yeah, it's not totally fixed, but a screen replacement is not too big of an issue. What you have done so far with make it rock stable once the screen is replaced.
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Another enjoyable video. Cannot wait to see this system, and/or the other two brought back to life.
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Yet another reason I love this channel- all the off-hand knowledge. I had no idea the Game Gears were made to such exacting standards. Hope three's enough for you to get at least one out of the deal. Entertaining as always, and enjoy the rest of your week.
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So many guys in your workshop. But another great video. Rock on.
